Sleat, M. (2014) Realism, Liberalism and Non-ideal Theory Or, Are there Two Ways to do Realistic Political Theory? Political Studies. ISSN 0032-3217
Abstract
The charge that contemporary political theory has lost touch with the realities of politics is common to both the recent ideal/non-ideal theory debate and the revival of interest in realist thought. However, a tendency has arisen to subsume political realism within the ideal/non-ideal theory debate, or to elide realism with non-ideal theorising. This article argues that this is a mistake. The ideal/non-ideal theory discussion is a methodological debate that takes place within the framework of liberal theory. Realism, contrary to several interpretations, is a distinct and competing conception of politics in its own right that stands in contrast to that of liberal theory. While the two debates are united in a sense that contemporary liberal theory needs to be more realistic, they differ significantly in their understanding of this shortcoming and, more importantly, what it is to do more realistic political theory.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Wiley. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Political Studies. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | realism; ideal/non-ideal theory; liberalism; utopianism; legitimacy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Feb 2016 12:33 |
Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2016 11:41 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12152 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1467-9248.12152 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:95210 |